“When California winemakers refer to their wines and winemaking as Burgundian, pretense is more often at work than philosophy. Not so with Cobb, who won’t make such claims about his wines, but who admits that he grows his fruit to ripen at brix levels that make most California winemakers shudder in horror.” Alder Yarrow writes a wonderful profile of Ross Cobb.

In the New York Times, Eric Asimov provides some “quick, easy solutions to last-minute beverage problems.”

“What, then, should you ask of a wine? This question is more key than you might imagine. It will determine not only the kinds of wines you choose, but also the kind of taster that you become.” Matt Kramer offers five questions that he thinks “good tasters might ask of any wine they come across.”